


Tethered

by racheltuckerrr



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, I'm big on choice as you can see, Kryptonian mythology, OR IS IT, Red String of Fate, Supercat Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 00:25:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10673865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/racheltuckerrr/pseuds/racheltuckerrr
Summary: In which Kara gives Cat a friendship bracelet that's not really a friendship bracelet at all. It is, however, a choice.





	Tethered

The first time Kara makes a bracelet for Cat out of red string and gives it to her as a gift, Cat frowns. Which is to be expected, it’s not like she has any frame of reference, other than Kara’s bubbly nature and penchant for unexpected kindness.

So then Kara explains to her in that same bubbly, earnest way she has that it’s an old family tradition, only neglecting to mention how old and _which_ family. She tells Cat that as long as she wears the red string, it’s supposed to bring eternal beauty, longevity and prosperity to her and her own.

That is, if the giver wishes all that upon her, in any case. Which, she assures Cat instantly, she does. Kara says it’s basically like a friendship bracelet.

It’s not. 

 

* * *

 

 _“What is it, Kara?” her mother asks, snapping the girl out of her thoughts as Alura waves her hand in front of her daughter’s face._

_They’re sitting in the common room, doing their collective best to understand the complexities of an 8-year-old’s homework while waiting on Zor-El to come home from work._

_“You’ve been staring at my hand for the past five minutes, instead of focusing on these math problems. That’s not like you.”_

_“I apologize, Mother,” Kara says obediently, frowning as she does so. “I’ve been distracted, it won’t happen again.”_

_Alura smiles kindly, a knowing glint in her eye._

_"You know you can ask, right?”_

_“I – well. I’ve been wondering about the red strand around your wrist. I noticed it’s the same as Father’s.”_

_“Ah, well…” her mother sighs and Kara is too young to recognize the sound as wistful, only waits patiently for an answer. “It’s called the Red String of Fate.”_

_“Sounds important,” Kara muses out loud when no other explanation comes._

_“It is.”_

 

* * *

 

It’s probably the first time Kara has managed to lie to Cat, even half-convincingly, but she still expects Cat to call her bluff. Because Cat’s never been her friend and she suspects that deep down they both know that.

Oh, she’s been a lot of things to Kara over the years they’ve known each other, a lot more than most people could ever hope to be. From boss to mentor to crush, to a real, genuine confidant and advisor.

But they’ve never quite managed to be friends. It’s always been either more or less. Never _just quite_.

But alas, Cat only raises her eyebrows in what Kara knows to be a clear expression of challenge, and says, “Why, Kiera, are you suggesting that I don’t already _have_ those things?"

Kara only smiles, because this quiet indulgence is oh so familiar, and it only takes a modicum of effort to keep from rolling her eyes at the woman in front of her.

“The more the merrier,” she says and Cat shrugs, already reaching a slender wrist out in the air towards Kara without any further questions.

Kara gingerly takes Cat’s hand in her own, ties the thread over the place where her hand meets the rest of her arm and they don’t mention it again. 

Except they do, when a week later Cat calls her into the office under the guise of needing some layouts and casually asks Kara why she doesn’t have a red string on her wrist.

“If it’s supposed to be a friendship bracelet…then shouldn’t you be wearing one as well?”

Kara has to physically keep herself from floating away at that, and when the elevator doors open the next morning and Cat steps out to take her latte from Kara’s hand, she sees hazel eyes immediately go to her wrist and not a moment later a satisfied smirk stretches over Cat’s lips, so wide, that not even the rim of her cup can hide it.

 

* * *

 

_“So what does it mean?” Kara asks, curious to find out more. “The string. It’s not as if every couple has them. Aunt Astra doesn’t.”_

_“You’re a very observant child, Kara,” Alura sighs. “I should have known it would come back to bite me in the end.”_

_“Mother,” Kara gasps at the language, stifling her giggles._

_“Pardon me, Kara,” she says, chuckling herself. “I suppose it is time.”_

_“You know how on Krypton, our future mates are chosen specifically for us by the Matrix.”_

_“When we reach the appropriate age, yes,” Kara nods, she is aware of this Kryptonian tradition. “But what does any of that have to do with the string you wear on your wrist?”_

_“The string is…it’s a choice.”_

_“How so?”_

_“Because our mates are essentially chosen_ for _us, even though the Matrix provides a perfect match every time, a lot of people still feel…” Alura trails off, looking for the correct word._

_“Helpless?” Kara supplies, and her mother nods._

_“Something like that, yes. They started to rebel against the power of the Matrix, some even abandoned their chosen mates before the bonding ceremony could be performed. It’s…a very unpleasant experience, for everyone involved, but not completely unheard of,” Alura says quietly as she stares into the distance._

 

* * *

 

Cat keeps wearing the string bracelet without any fuss, and sometimes it’s the only other thing on her arm besides the little watch she got from Carter for her last birthday, the one that she keeps insisting never happened. 

Except that some days she leaves the watch at home for fear of breaking it by accident when she has to deal with an especially dumb assortment of people. Usually the board.

She never takes the red string off her wrist, though. Not once. 

And maybe it feels more intimate for Kara because of what she knows of its history, but just the fact that Cat keeps wearing it in itself already means _so much_.

Even if it’s a far cry from what it could’ve been on Krypton, Kara’s heart still sings as she clutches her left hand to her heart while she sleeps at night, thinking of Cat.

 

* * *

_“But Aunt Astra and Uncle Non did have a bonding ceremony!” Kara interjects, getting more and more invested by the second. “I was there, we all were, even little Kal-El!”_

_“Yes, they did,” her mother sighs and Kara feels utterly confused. “To put it simply, Astra and Non only reject the method behind the creation of their bond, not the bond itself. They think it’s a restriction of free will.”_

_“Even if the results are the same?”_

_“Even so.”_

_“Hm,” Kara seems to think on it, and an idea forms in her head as she starts connecting the dots, just like her parents taught her. “Is that why Aunt Astra and Uncle Non fight so much? Because they don’t accept the origin of their bond?”_

_“It is possible. Rejection of the Matrix can lead to a discord and discontent within the bond, even if the partners are otherwise willing to be together.”_

_Alura frowns, and even Kara can see that the problem is bigger than what her mother is comfortable with letting her see. She tucks that knowledge away into the recesses of her 8-year-old mind, but lets the matter rest for now, opting to go back to her original question._

_“So what_ is _the Red String of Fate then?”_

* * *

Kara is mid-air on her way to stop a huge, rapidly approaching asteroid from crashing into Earth when her phone rings, right over the Pacific Ocean.

It’s only a mildly life-threatening scenario, wouldn’t even be that if Clark hadn’t chosen this particular weekend to be trapped in another dimension and Kara wouldn’t have to do it all by herself, yet again.

"Kara," Cat’s voice says in her ear, and the effect is instantaneous as it soothes her, so much so that it’s almost like Cat is there with her, and for a moment Kara almost forgets that the barrier of this secret still exists between them.

"Yes, Miss Grant?"

"I - I lost it," the woman says, voice almost desperate and Kara would give anything to be able to _fix_ it.

"I'm sorry what?"

"Your string bracelet. I lost it."

And it shouldn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, especially not at the moment, when she literally has a planet to save, and Kara almost laughs at herself when the disappointment hits her anyway.

But then Cat goes on to rattle off the entire story of her impromptu hiking trip with Carter in the mountains just north of National City and just the mental image of Cat Grant versus nature alone almost makes up for the whole thing. The real, genuine remorse in the woman’s voice does the rest. 

"I'll make you a new one," Kara says, eager to reassure as she speeds towards the stratosphere.

"Promise?" Cat asks, voice unsteady and it dawns on Kara that she’s probably watching her as she glides towards the sky to save them all.

" _I promise_ ," she says solemnly and there is nothing she wants more than to keep it.

"You better make good on that promise, Supergirl."

"I will," Kara says and the light chuckle she lets out at the profound relief she feels should absolutely not be associated with flying into potentially deadly danger, but the pressure that was just released on her heart is far greater.

Cat knows she’s Supergirl and she wants another bracelet. An asteroid is nothing.

* * *

_“Like I said, a choice,” Alura says, her fingers absent-mindedly playing with the strand in question. “The couples that are content and happy in their union, no matter where it comes from, are the ones who usually decide to include the tying of the strings in their bonding ceremony, so as to strengthen their sense of belonging to the other person. It means that you are choosing that person yourself. Because you love them and you want to be with them, regardless of everything else at work behind the bond you share. It’s like…a promise.”_

_Kara nods slowly, taking it all in. It’s probably more than she was intended to know at her age, but the concept intrigues her all the same, and she already knows she will have to ask Kelex to tell her more about it later._

_For now, though, she only has one question left._

_“But how is it about fate then?”_

_“It’s not,” Aura chuckles. “Apparently, the first Kryptonians to start this tradition were just as big on irony as we are.”_

_With the heaviness out of the way, Alura leans over to tickle her daughter playfully, and Kara shrieks as she tries to get away._

_Zor-El arrives ten minutes later to find a giggling heap of his two favourite girls on the floor by the fireplace as they laugh away the last remnants of their serious conversation._

 

* * *

 

That night, after making the necessary rounds as the resident alien hero and enduring the not-so necessary check-ups as the younger sister of an overprotective secret agent, Kara finally lands on Cat’s balcony, not even sparing a thought for a quick change as she does so. 

She doesn’t have time to ponder that now either, because the balcony door opens just a few seconds later and suddenly Cat is standing there, looking softer and more vulnerable than Kara has ever seen her, and the only logical thing to do is to step forward and envelop her in a warm embrace.

Cat smells heavenly and she holds on tight to Kara, almost like she never wants to let go and Kara has no problems with that so they stand there, just holding onto each other for a very long time.

“I have something for you,” Kara says, almost shyly as she finally pulls away, but only enough to present a single red string, identical to the one she still wears around her left wrist.

Cat holds out her hand in much the same fashion as she had the first time, except that now her other hand is still holding on, and slowly making its way to tangle into Kara’s windswept hair, making tingles run down Kara’s spine.

“You know, Cat,“ Kara starts when she’s finished tying the string and finally looks up into Cat’s eyes for the first time.

“Yes?”

“It’s not really a –“ she trails off, afraid of revealing yet another truth that has the potential to blow up in her face in the same day.

“ _Friendship bracelet?_ ” Cat quips helpfully, and she doesn’t look surprised in the least. Kara nods.

“ _I_ _know_. I’ve known for a long time, Kara.”

“But how –“

“I’m an investigative journalist, darling, and not a bad one at that,” she says, nonchalantly draping her arms around Kara’s neck in the process. “I did my homework on Kryptonian mythology, right after I’ve had my very first inkling about who you really are.”

“So,” Kara starts, tentatively reaching with one hand for the strand of red around Cat’s left wrist, even as she reaches for the woman’s waist with the other. “How do you feel about this then?”

“How do I feel?” Cat asks incredulously and Kara honestly doesn’t know what her next course of action should be.

That is until Cat cups her face with the palm of the same hand that bears the infamous red string, threading the fingers of the other through blonde locks, and kisses Kara like she means it. All Kara can do is kiss her back with equal passion, each of them pouring everything they can into the kiss.

“You _idiot_ ,” Cat says after she reluctantly pulls away, peppering kisses all over Kara’s jaw, her cheeks and the rest of her face before coming back to ghost her lips over Kara’s as she whispers, just barely audible,

“I did tell you to get one too, didn’t I?”


End file.
